Charles Bierbauer

Charles Johann Bierbauer, journalist and educator, died at age 83 on Aug. 29, 2025, at his home

in North Carolina. His generous heart gave out after a good, long life.

Bierbauer described himself as an introvert who enjoyed reaching a million viewers at a time via

television or his students one-by-one. His journalism career spanned more than 50 years; his

academic career, nearly two decades. At times, they overlapped.

As CNN's senior White House correspondent from 1984 to 1993, Bierbauer said he was not

ready for some smart 25-year-old to take his job. As dean and professor of journalism at the

University of South Carolina from 2002 to 2018, he took pride in preparing the smart 25-yearolds.

Bierbauer traced his family to 19th century German democratic revolutionaries on his father's

side and to Cornish miners on his mother's. His family included brewers, railroaders and

theatrical entrepreneurs.

Bierbauer was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on July 22, 1942, the only child of Kathleen

(Mitchell) and Charles Arthur Bierbauer. He is survived by his wife of 42 years, Susanne Marie

Schafer of Spruce Pine, North Carolina, four children-Alec of Huntsville, Alabama; Kari Braido

of Easton, Pennsylvania; Craig of Allentown, Pennsylvania; and Andrew of Spruce Pine, North

Carolina. He has eight grandchildren, two step-grandchildren and one great grandson. He was

predeceased by his parents and a half-brother. His first marriage to Mary Curtis of Allentown

ended in divorce.

Bierbauer enjoyed a week at the beach with all the grandchildren, plus the sun, sand, salt and

bugs, or a lifetme in the mountains with the breezes, freezes and ever-changing play of clouds

and light. After retiring from the university, Bierbauer and his wife relocated full-tme to Spruce

Pine in western North Carolina, elevaton 3000 feet.

His wife, children and grandchildren were his constellaton, though he'd acknowledge a few

other accomplishments:

--Becoming a good writer and a decent speller.

--Riding a horse as fast and far as they'd let him.

--Rafting the Grand Canyon … "all the way to the falls" and beyond.

--Serving as a soldier at a rank unattainable in today's army … Specialist 5.

--Earning an Emmy, two excellence in teaching awards, a couple of honorary doctorates, a place

in a Hall of Fame (Lehigh County, Pennsylvania), and a Metropolitan Media Softball League

championship.

--Climbing to the top of a pyramid in Mexico and inside one in Egypt, walking a stretch of the

G through the Brandenburg Gate the wall fell. He reported on Ronald Reagan's 1987 "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" speech.

--Figuring out how to eat with chopsticks, to make a decent martini, to play the Sousaphone and rugby, to speak Russian and German, to read Supreme Court briefs and opinions - including Bush v Gore e ectively ending the 2000 U.S. presidential election, to hold a class's attention - more or less - for an hour. Two hours, if you gave students a break.

Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Bierbauer attended Lehigh University and received undergraduate (Russian and journalism) and graduate (journalism) degrees from Penn State. He was named a Penn State distinguished alumnus and Alumni Fellow and taught as a Penn State adjunct. As a soldier and, later, a foreign correspondent, he was stationed in Turkey, Pakistan, Yugoslavia, Austria, West Germany (twice), England and the Soviet Union. He lived in countries that no longer exist and worked for companies no longer on journalism's map. His professional itinerary included The (Allentown, Pa.) Morning Call; WKAP radio (also in Allentown); the Associated Press in Pittsburgh; Group W News - Westinghouse Broadcasting - in Belgrade, Vienna, Bonn, London and Philadelphia; The Chicago Daily News while in Europe; ABC News in Moscow and Bonn; CNN as Pentagon, White House and Senior Washington correspondent; and South Carolina Educational Television where he hosted and moderated coverage of politics and public a airs over two decades.

He reported on myriad summits and multiple political campaigns. He was arrested in Moscow's Red Square while lming an anti-Soviet demonstration. While covering Muhammed Ali's 1978 travels in the Soviet Union, Bierbauer was denounced by the Soviet press for asking impertinent questions.

By his own admission, he watched too much television, loved old movies and musicals, never scored a hole-in-one (except in the clown's mouth), rarely caught a sh and never shot a creature (except a clay pigeon).

He served as president of the White House Correspondents Association, the Potomac (Md.) Swim and Tennis Club, the Swiss Pine Lake (NC) Community Association and the Mayland Community College (NC) Foundation Board. He felt everyone should be president of something.

Bierbauer was dean of the College of Information and Communications at the University of South Carolina for 15 years, retiring in 2018. He also served the university as interim vice president of communications. As dean, he bore some responsibility for the "arranged marriage" of the journalism and information science schools, creating a statewide literacy initiative, building a new home for the journalism school and staging a celebratory concert on the campus's iconic Horseshoe.

The family will have a private remembrance ceremony in the coming weeks.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Charles Bierbauer Scholarship Fund at the University of South Carolina. The link is http://donate.sc.edu/Bierbauer.

As well, the family would appreciate donations to the non-profit program where Charles volunteered and served as a member of the governing board, the Appalachian Therapeutic Riding Center. The link is http://www.atrcriding.org.